Here I am
by Tori Aoshiro
Summary: Based on fablegate's baby Frisk AU, on tumblr. Only a few months old Frisk is slid down to the underground with no explanations. Awaits a world full of danger for a human baby, but also full of tenderness. However, who could predict the futur of a child who'll grow between two worlds?
1. Chapter 1

Hi there! This little fanfiction is based on fablegate's Baby Frisk AU on tumblr. If you can, go take a look at the blog, it's really cool!

* * *

He was bored. God was he bored.

In fact, if his existence was converted into letters at that very instant, he was most definitely sure they would spell the word "BOREDOM" over and over.

He was in the ruins, standing in one of the rare spots of grass and flowers who were blessed by the thin rays of sunlight filtering through the numerous cracks in this part of the underground's ceiling. What good was there to be anywhere else? He already knew everything that would happen, every scheme, every case, every line of dialogue, all by the heart he didn't have. He wanted something knew, something that would shake up this place, turn it upside down, if possible in the cruelest way, that was always fun. He wanted to see blood he didn't spill, hear screams he didn't cause. He wanted to see what it would be like if someone else did the experience instead of him. Maybe it would be different? Who knew? He was so bored with this place he knew like the back of his roots, he wanted to see other things.

He caught himself thinking about a new human that would fall in the ruins. A cruel human that would bring a bit of fun. Well, a normal human would do as well. He could tease them, torment them, play with it the way a cat plays with his mouse. It would be so great, humans were so unpredictable, so fun. Then he would kill them, take their soul, cross the barrier, just to leave and see new things, break new things, do and undo new things to give once more some spice to his meaningless existence.

A sound interrupted his sordid thought. As if woken up from a dream, he needed a few seconds to take in the place again. The sound came from above. He bent his stem and looked up.

He didn't immediately see the small shape descending slowly from one of the crack in the rock. Curiosity filled him again for the first time in what felt like centuries. He heard a rope rubbing against the stone, the frightened gasp of a small animal, the ominous creaking of old fabric about to break.

A basket fell roughly on the spot of golden flowers growing under the crack. The rope attached to the handle fell next to it, and the weak reasoning of footstep high above indicated that whoever was the person who had descended this object, they were gone without looking back.

Flowey approached with curiosity. What kind of monstrosity could be in this basket for the humans to get rid of it by sending it to monsters? He pulled his head up above the ground, without any respect for his flower fellows who didn't give a shit anyway. A strange shape was moving and whining weakly underneath a thin blue blanket. Flowey moved closer to see.

A hand suddenly gripped one of his petals and, out of surprise, he beat the flower world record of backwards jump. You didn't know a flower could jump backwards? Well he didn't either.

He struggled back up. Seriously, do you know how hard it is to put your own roots back in the ground? His head was a bit throbbing and he let out an outraged cry when he realized that beast had torn away one of his petals. His bullets appeared around him, deadly. This thing was going to have a bad time (if he could say so).

He approached again, more boldly, and looked in the basket while making sure he stayed at a safe distance, this time. And his eyes widened out of incredulity. The blanket had moved and, underneath, was a tiny human, even smaller than him, dressed in an old onesie that had probably once been blue and pink, and who was now busy with chewing the stolen petal between his toothless jaws.

"Oh, yeah, go on, eat it, I won't have to kill you myself this way." Flowey said as his bullets disappeared around him. He gave a curious look to the tiny baby who was still mechanically chewing on the petal. He was a buttercup, after all, he should be toxic.

Something came back to his memory. A buttercup field, a child who was, in the same way, cautiously eating the poisoned flowers. Then a bed.

"It was a joke, give me that back, now! I-It's not fun if I don't do anything!" he said with a little bit more of panic then he would have liked. The baby didn't seem to understand but their face was slowly turning into a disgusted frown. After a few more bites, they let the petal out of their mouth as well as a sharp wail. Flowey cringed at the piercing noise, and even more when he saw his petal crinkled and wet with saliva. "Ew, actually, you can keep it…" he sighed, annoyed.

He looked closer at the little one. Their skin was thin, and almost golden over his fragile limbs. They had brown hair flying around their head and their huge baby eyes were narrowed in a way that made it difficult to see their color. Which was hazel, by the way. Flowey pouted. Their soul was weak, the same as every young infant. Much weaker than a normal human soul. Well, it was still a soul. It would be fun to see what would happen if he took it.

Yeah, he would do this. It wasn't like a newborn barely able to crawl and catch objects was going to do anything interesting in the boredom kingdom he lived in. They couldn't even walk, or do anything funny. The bullets appeared again. The baby, unaware of the danger, extended their little curious hands towards them, babbling, having forgotten the bitter memory of the buttercup petal. Killing them wasn't even fun. Flowey growled. He hoped.

The little hand surprised him again, but this time, it was the stem it had gripped. Flowey gasped, scared of being forced as well into the young child's mouth. But the human didn't do such a thing. They looked attentively the spot on Flowey's face where plump tatters indicated there had been a petal. Hesitatingly, as if not knowing how to do it very well yet, they brought that spot to their mouth. "I'm going to reset, after this. I'm so going to reset and you're going to die, you hear me?" exclaimed an exasperated Flowey.

However, the little one didn't chew. They simply applied their slobbery lips on the spot from where the petal had been torn. "Mouah!" they said with exaggeration before they let go of the stem and threw a fit of laughter. Flowey stopped next to the basket as the baby extended their arms, once more, towards the pretty little white pellets rotating in the air. What. The heck. Was this?

He shock himself. He didn't care about what this was supposed to be, he was going to take that soul. Just for the heck of it, as always. He was about to throw the bullets when a noise stopped him. What now? He barely had time to look around before a magic ball charged him, taking him away from the basket and throwing him in the air for the second time that day. He had to escape. A hideous cringe deformed his lips. Whatever, he'd take that soul later. Just before he left, he took time to check out who was the newcomer.

"I can't believe it, to do this to such a young human! Oh, my child, don't cry, I'm here now…"

A dark smile appeared on his face. An alternative he hadn't thought of made its way to his mind. If Toriel had decided to interfere, if she thought she could take care of a newborn in the desolated ruins, without any help from the outside, then it would probably be…

Interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

Toriel was shaken, hands still full of Boss Monster magic fire, when the child fully appeared to her sight, tiny and fragile. And when she took them out of their basket and placed them in her arms for the first time, it was her soul that she felt gasping. And finally, when the child looked up at her with their round and innocent face, she merely heard again the faint bleat of the baby monster that had once looked at her in the same way.

She hugged them close, holding back tears of both sadness and guilty joy. The child let out a gasping laugh.

When she saw the basket, she noticed a small piece of paper inside. It held only one name: "Frisk". So this was their name. There was nothing else. No explanation, no information, nothing. At first glance, she only gave the child a few months, but she was sure of nothing. After all, the only baby she had raised was Asriel, and being a monster, he was already bigger when he was just born.

That didn't matter, after all. Even if they were a human child, she could take care of them. She had to. Keeping Frisk close to her, she picked up the basket and, a content smile on her face, proceeded to cross the ruins in order to get home. The child looked at their surroundings with a curiosity that made her smile. They babbled a little bit, and got excited at the sight of the few monsters they met. Sometimes, they reached out towards a pile of leaves or a portion of wall, as if imagining something Toriel couldn't see.

The cries started barely a half hour after she found them.

She had arrived only minutes ago and, after laying her new child in the living room's armchair for them to warm themselves, was making some soup for them. At first, she had only heard a whine, then a wail. Worried, she was putting down her vegetables when a long shrill scream made her jump.

She let go of everything and ran to the living room. Frisk, laying on the armchair, was crying their vocal cords broken, their small body bent in half, curled up on itself. Toriel felt her blood turn into ice and quickly cradled them into her arms. "There, there, everything will be alright, my child. What's happening to you?" she whispered.

As only answer, the baby's body was shaken by a few spasms that freaked her out before it rejected a small amount of vomit on the already terribly dirty onesie. Though it was more bile than vomit - that poor thing had obviously not eaten anything for quite a long time. Frisk hiccupped two or three times before starting to cry again.

Toriel tried not to panic. She took them to the bathroom to get their clothes off of them (which allowed her to notice she was taking care of a little girl), and wash her face. As she didn't have any baby clothes, she tucked her in a clean blanket and started to cradle her softly, walked back in forth in the hallway, sung a lullaby, tried to make her eat. No good. Frisk kept crying like a fallen soul life had treated with too much cruelty.

A terrible thought started to crawl into the tortured mother mind that was Toriel's. Could it be that Frisk had eaten some buttercups that were in the cave? Starved like she was, it wouldn't have been surprising. Even though she hadn't gotten out of the basket, nothing kept her from extending her arm and catching one, which was already enough! What should she do? She had thrown up but seeing how she was crying, it was obvious she was still in pain. And with an empty stomach, the flower's juice would circulate much faster.

Toriel started to fear for the small being's life. She wasn't a doctor, even less a doctor for humans. And monster food's benefits would be of no use if the child kept refusing to eat. The only thing to do was to go buy a cure, an emetic or something. There was no such thing in the ruins and the closest place that would sell such a thing was in Snowdin.

There was the dilemma: she couldn't take a human child this far into the cave, especially a human child whose cries were so loud they could alert the entire underground. The royal guard patrolled and she couldn't imagine what Asgore would do, now that he was only one human soul away from breaking the barrier. But she couldn't leave this poor creature alone in her pain and without anyone to watch her either. Her instinct and her mother experience forbid it. With a young child, anything could happen if you dared leave.

As she kept cradling the restless child, she thought and had to face the facts: she could either take the chance or lose another poor innocent soul. She waited for exhaustion to calm Frisk's wails and the little girl soon fell into a troubled sleep. She then wrapped herself into a large black cape, the one she used to go unnoticed when she went out to buy some food, and propped the child beneath it, close to her.

Every step she took in the house's basement, towards the ruins door, she barely changed her mind and turned away, but the few jolts Frisk endured in her sleep were enough to keep her determined. Determined to save at least this child she already loved as if she was hers.

Frisk whined when she arrived at the door, which made her stop, but fortunately she didn't cry. So Toriel, gathering her courage, precipitately pushed the door.

And as unexpected as it seems, she barely hit something.

"Wow, hey, uh, well that's new…"


	3. Chapter 3

"Whoah, hey, well that's new…" said a low and slightly hoarse voice.

Toriel stopped from the surprise. From worry. From astonishment. She had the feeling she knew that voice. The monster she had barely hit with the door was a short and big-boned skeleton, dressed in a comfortable blue hoodie, black jogging pants and slippers, in spite of the frozen ground. A large and still grin was painted on his face, despite his bewildered look. Or maybe was it simply the feeling it gave, due to the fact he didn't have any lips to cover his teeth.

Then Toriel realized. There was only one monster who knew about this door. Only one monster whose voice she had already heard. "So it's… you?" she said as she refused the immense joy growing in her chest the right to take too much place.

"Uh, no, it's Sans." he said with, despite the almost unreal situation, the same humor she had heard from behind the ruins wooden panel. "And you're the old lady, aren't you?"

She giggled almost nervously. "Call me Toriel. I'm so happy to finally meet you!" She didn't dare think at the moment. She had exchanged jokes with this monster for years now. She had imagined meeting him so many times, and yet she didn't know how to react now that he really was in front of her, in the flesh (well, more like in the bones). She had that weird feeling you get when you suspect you are dreaming, maybe because it had been way too long since she had last opened this door.

"Happy to meet you too-Toriel." he winked as she laughed at the very predictable pun. "To be honest, I didn't think you'd actually open the door one day! Why is that?"

Toriel stopped, remembering the weak creature she still held close to her under her left arm, well-hidden under the black cape. She felt a dizzying cold penetrating her veins. In other circumstances, she would have been glad to finally have the deserved company of another monster but the stakes were suddenly much higher then she would have liked them to be. "I…" she started as she thought about an excuse. "I've got something I have to go find. It's… important." she finished as she started walking quickly, making sure she didn't slip on the icy ground.

Sans made a disappointed face, and by that I mean his mouth stayed perfectly still while his eyes cringed for him. "Hey, why don't you tell me the reason you're in such a… furry?" As funny as the pun was, Toriel kept walking fast as Sans followed her. "Come on, I could help you. I'm still on break right now."

She gazed at him softly. He was well-meaning, but the risk was so high… Suddenly, a whine escaped her cape, stopping her heart here and then. Frisk was awake. And she was obviously still in pain. The whine was followed by others, and then by weak and tired cries. Toriel had to stop. Sans stopped behind here, intrigued and almost worried about the sound exhaled by the cape.

"Sans." she said seriously.

"Yes?"

"Can I trust you?"

He hesitated for some moments before nodding. "Yes."

Toriel immediately let Frisk out from under the cape, cradling her to calm her down. She slowly faced Sans who laid his empty eye sockets on the little girl. The little human. "This is Frisk." Toriel said. "I think she ate buttercup flowers and she needs to throw up at all cost. There aren't any medicine in the ruins, I have to go get some in Snowdin." Her queen-like self-assurance was slowly coming back to her. She was still dead worried over the crying child in her arms but, in front of someone, she was showing again the confidence she always had. "I know you're a sentry, but do not try to stop me. I want to save this child."

Sans looked at her with his frozen grin, an amused spark twinkling in his dark sockets. "Jeez, Toriel, you know I never wanted to stop anyone, unlike my brother. Too much efforts, you know? Besides, as I told you, I'm still on break right now. I don't even have to stop you, right now." He added with a friendly wink that made the former queen smile. Then, he casually walked forward, as if everything couldn't be more normal, and stared at Frisk attentively. The human's cries slowed down a little bit as her thin hazel eyes half opened to the image of the short skeleton. "Hey, kiddo." he said absentmindedly.

She looked at him curiously.

And started crying again.


	4. Chapter 4

"So, the idea is to go buy those meds without drawing attention to little miss sunshine right here?"

Toriel nodded, focused on the little human she was cradling as much as she could to calm her down. Her cries were ear-splitting, but still weakened by tiredness.

"No offence but… That's impossible."

Toriel did feel a little bit offended but just sighed. "I know that. But…"

"But you are lucky today. I've had my share of impossible things." He interrupted her with a spark in his eyes.

"Was that… A joke?"

"More or less." He shrugged. "It mostly means I have an idea."

Toriel listened eagerly, which made the little skeleton smile.

"We're going to take Frisk to my place."

"What?" Toriel exclaimed, startled. "But how? What about your brother…"

"Oh, no need to worry about Papyrus. He must be on his beat, right now, complaining about me not doing my job. He won't come home before he found me, which is highly unlikely since I'll be there, with the kid, while you'll go do your shopping. Easy as pie!"

Toriel bit her lip, worried. Was leaving Frisk alone with Sans actually a good idea? But she had to face the fact that she didn't have a choice, there was no other way. "This doesn't tell us how we'll arrive to Snowdin town without drawing the royal guard's attention."

"Don't worry about this." Said Sans with a little wink. "I know a shortcut."

* * *

In one word, the skeleton brother's home was cozy. The living room was clean and spacious, in spite of the presence of a sock next to the television and a rock on the table. The blue and pink zigzag patterned carpet was so thick it made you feel like taking a nap on the floor. And it was warm, so warm Toriel almost felt dizzy when the snug home replaced the icy forest inside of which she was following Sans. The heat seemed to also please Frisk whose cries calmed down briefly. The goat woman turned around, wondering how she got there, but Sans didn't leave her time to speculate.

"Come in, Toriel. Don't worry, the neighbors won't hear anything."

"But how did we get here…" wondered aloud the former queen. She looked through a window near the stairs and realized that they were, indeed, in Snowdin town. Furry children were playing in the snow near a decorated tree, a few feet from there. A pair of monsters were complaining about life, sitting under a porch.

"Nice shortcut, huh?" Sans bragged as he let himself fall on the couch. He sighed and stretched, looking tired. He needed a few seconds to sit up straight. "I think you should go, you might need to search Miss Keeper's shelves for a while before you find what you're looking for."

"I'm worried. Maybe you could go? You'd know what to do."

"Too much work." He breathed, embarrassed for some reason. "And I'm not exactly sure about what you want either. Besides, it'd be weird for a skeleton to get something to make him throw up. Nah, it's best if you go."

"What if people question me?"

"Nah. Unless you stay still and look busy, no one will come talk to you."

Toriel thought this was a strange logic, but didn't add anything. Frisk was whining pitifully and she had so much trouble to let her down in Sans's bony arms. The blanket she was wrapped in was slipping a little bit. Sans smiled reassuringly at her with his eyes. "You just have to turn right when you leave. The shop is at the end of the street, before the sign."

"Take good care of Frisk." Replied Toriel, worried.

Sans rolled his eye sockets. "Everything will be fine, Toriel. What could go wrong?"

Toriel hesitated a little bit more but resolved to go, leaving Frisk alone with her makeshift babysitter. The little girl's cries had weakened quickly with the house's warmth, and was now just whining and gasping. She was still hurt but, at least, she wasn't cold anymore.

Sans was watching her with interest, lazily cradling her once in a while. He didn't have much to do, he just had to stay there and watch over the kid until Toriel came back. And he was alright with that. "Hey, kiddo!" he said. Frisk opened her eyes, without stopping to whine. "Do you want to hear a joke?" He took her lack of reaction for a yes. "Why do skeletons hate winter?" Frisk cried for a few more seconds before he gave the answer with a big smile. "Because the wind just goes right through them!"

Too bad for him, Frisk didn't seem in the mood for jokes, and didn't understand what he was saying anyway. Sans didn't take offence, he was used to laugh alone.

Before long, tiredness seemed to calm down the little girl's cries. Sans soon noticed her whines getting weaker and weaker, as well as her repeated yawns. "You're tired, baby bones?" he said. "I wouldn't say no to a nap either." Frisk didn't answer. Her eyes closed and her whines became the product of feverish dreams.

At first, Sans didn't dare let himself fall asleep as well, but this didn't last. His eye sockets closed gradually, the couch suddenly seemed more comfortable than a cloud and the pile of blanket he was holding was soft like a lamb.

It wasn't his fault if he fell asleep anywhere and anytime, after all. He didn't choose to be like this.

A little rest wouldn't hurt anybody.

Just a little bit of sleep.

A tiny bit.

"SANS! GET UP, YOU LAZY BONES!"

The yell woke him up so suddenly he fell from the couch. The small skeleton felt like he had closed his eyes for only a few seconds but several details proved him wrong. The fact his brother just came back home and was scolding him for not coming to work, for example.

As well as the fact he was now holding, in his arms, an empty blanket.


	5. Chapter 5

The word "shit" is not just a curse word. Sometimes, it imposes its presence and repeats itself, carves itself in the brain and bounces off the skull's walls like a frog under steroids until it becomes an emotions. And at the very moment, this was the case for Sans. "Shit" was his emotion at the moment.

His butt on the carpet, still holding the empty blanket, he could barely hear his brother's remonstrance. His barely awake mind was vainly trying to analyze the situation under the yelling and the "shitshitshitshit" resonating in the background of his skull. How much time had he been sleeping? Where was Frisk?

"Say, you're home early, Paps," he said as if nothing happened.

"WHAT are you TALKING ABOUT, SANS?! I've been LOOKING FOR YOU, ALL DAY, AND I FOUND YOU SLEEPING on the COUCH! And you can't even do THAT CORRECTLY! You are supposed to COVER YOURSELF with the blanket, NOT HUG IT!" kept yelling a very exasperated Papyrus.

All day. It was already the evening? That explained why he was home. Where was Toriel? Had she come to pick up Frisk? Yes, maybe… No, she would have taken the blanket, or would have at least woken him up to say goodbye. Right? She wouldn't have tricked him like this!

Noticing his brother's pensive silence, Papyrus finally stopped lecturing him, which the smaller of the two skeletons didn't seem to notice immediately. His eye sockets were dark, empty. "Sans?" No answer. "SANS!"

Said man jumped, suddenly torn away from his interrogations. "Uh, yeah bro?"

"It appears that you are not listening to my lecture and you seem… more worried? Than usual. What is the matter?"

Sans thanked haven that his huge smile was his only expression and quickly tried to reassure his brother. "Uh, you got me bro. You really can **see right through me**."

"Sans, I'm serious!"

"I know, I know, but I was thinking maybe the **ghosts** need that **matter** more than I do."

Papyrus crossed his arms, annoyed but comforted by his brother's puns. "Well, I elect to believe you FOR THE TIME BEING, brother. And do not go thinking I forgot about you SKIPPING WORK today! We'll talk about it later! For now, the Great Papyrus is going to cook diner!"

"Ok bro, whatev…" Sans suddenly stopped as he realized something. He jumped back on his feet, throwing the blanket on the couch, and rushed to the kitchen door. "No, wait! Let me check first!"

"And why should I do this, brother?"

"Uh," Sans thought as his eyes inspected the kitchen frenetically. He didn't know if Frisk could already walk, or crawl. Maybe she had woken up before him and had decided to take a walk alone around the house. He couldn't risk Papyrus seeing her. "I saw a mouse, this morning."

"A mouse?"

"Yeah. Uh, a very big mouse." He scanned the room a bit more and listened carefully but everything seemed in order, no sign of the tiny human. "Okay, it's not there, you can go."

"You are acting very strangely, Sans. Are you sure you are alright?" Asked Papyrus as he walked past him. "Do not worry about the mouse. If I, the great Papyrus, found it in the kitchen, I will have no trouble capturing it like a meek human!"

"Right, right. Well, excuse me but I'm going to my room." Papyrus grumbled but didn't say anything, much to Sans's relief as he casually exited the kitchen. As soon as he was out of sight, he started searching the living room, hoping Frisk was simply hiding behind the couch or the TV. Nothing.

He teleported to the second level. Maybe she had managed to climb the stairs. His room was closed, as usual, no risk here, but Papyrus's was slightly open. He went in without a sound, searched the bed, the furniture, the closet, he even emptied the box full of bones his brother was keeping for combat. Nothing.

He walked back in the corridor and put his skull between his phalanges, kind of stressed. Toriel was going to destroy him. It was that simple. How was he going to tell her he managed to lose a baby in a house with only four rooms? No, he had looked everywhere, Frisk wasn't here anymore. But then where? And how was she gone? Because if she wasn't inside she was bound to be outside, right?

"SANS!" The little skeleton jumped when he heard his brother calling his name from the kitchen. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS REQUIERS YOUR HELP!" Oh no, he couldn't stay and help his brother cook diner, not now. He had enough catastrophes upon his shoulders.

"Sorry bro, gotta go do something."

"SANS?" he didn't give his brother enough time to ask him questions. He snapped himself outside the house. He ran a hand on his forehead. All this drama was tiring him.

Alright, better go to Snowdin's shop. Maybe Toriel was still there? He was going to teleport again but didn't need to as he spotted, just in time, the goat-lady walking the street towards him, her cape on her head.

He didn't even need to call her name, she saw him from afar and walked right to him, looking rather pleased. "Good evening, Sans! I am so very sorry I took so long. I let myself talk with Hoppy while I searched her shelves and we didn't see the time go, however she does know excellent pastry recipes! It turns out she didn't have any emetic but she sent me to her sister, Inny, who works at the inn and who has children. She gave me a home-made remedy which should help Frisk…" Toriel suddenly paused, noticing the sorry look in the skeleton's eyes, and more importantly Frisk's absence. Her tone was suddenly much harder, almost strict. "Sans, where is Frisk?"

Sans had to control himself not to fly from the goat mother's contained rage. Just in case, he prepared himself to dodge. "I'm sorry, Toriel. Frisk has disappeared."


	6. Chapter 6

"You lost Frisk?!"

"Uh, nah. She disappeared."

"What do you mean "she disappeared"? Sans, tell me what happened!" Toriel was insistent, restless, both anguished and furious. It was a good thing most monsters in Snowdin had gone home for the night, her voice would have drawn attention to them. Sparks of white magic were already crackling in her palms and Sans thought it was preferable not to make her more mad. He had already seen Inny Keeper losing it when her eldest son had gotten lost in the snow; he was not going to be the subject to a worried mother's wrath.

"I didn't let go of the blanket, it's still at home. But Frisk was asleep and… well, I took a nap as well and when I woke up Papyrus was home and she was gone. I looked around the house, nothing."

"But how is this possible? She cannot have gone out, she's not even tall enough to reach the front door's handle…" Toriel now seemed more worried than angry, and Sans shamelessly felt relieved.

"No idea. Besides, I would've hear the door shut close. It's weird, to be honest. Humans don't phase through walls, right?"

Toriel sent him a glare that very clearly meant "no", and Sans could tell because his brother always used that glare with him. She sighed, her eyebrows furrowed, he forehead wrinkled by worry. Suddenly, her eyes lit up as if figuring something out. But how could that be? "Not the wall…" she whispered, "the floor." Sans sent her an interrogative gaze, but she didn't care. "Sans," she said, turning to him with a worried, almost hesitating look. "Have you ever heard of a talking flower?"

"You mean the echo-flowers?" the skeleton asked, more troubled than he'd let show.

"No, no, not the echo-flowersn", Toriel said, dismissing the hypothesis with a swipe of the hand. "A talking flower… Advising, threatening. A tiny golden flower."

Sans was silent for a moment, unfathomable eyes above his still grin. "Paps told me about a tiny flower talking to him sometimes. I thought someone was pranking him."

"Trust me, Flowey is all but a prank. This miserable creature has already attacked Frisk when she fell down here. If she's gone, I can only think of him as a culprit."

Sans had a thoughtful look for a few moments. "Maybe, but could he really do this?" They stayed silent for a few moments.

"I can only think of him." Eventually repeated Toriel. "We should find him as fast as possible to be sure. Although I do not know where we should look, he could be anywhere, and we are only two." She added with a worried look.

Sans sighed, looking as though he knew the solution, once more. "You're giving me a real workout…" he whispered, and Toriel wondered if he was talking to her or Frisk, wherever she was. "I know a way of seeing everything in the Underground. Or at least most of it. That should help us dig up that little flower."

"Really?" Toriel said, filled with hope.

"Yeah, but there's a chance we'll be seen."

"That's fine." Immediately said the goat woman without a trace of hesitation. "I just want to find Frisk before it's to late. The poor thing must be in so much pain…"

Sans looked at her, almost admiring the devotion this woman showed for a child she barely knew. Old legends said monsters souls were made of love, mercy and compassion, made to love. Those were just old stories nobody talked about since the war. But monsters like Toriel reminded him of those legends. "In this case, we're taking one of my shortcuts."

* * *

Toriel blinked like an owl in daylight when Snowdin's snowy street suddenly led to a room as dark as night. "We're lucky," Sans whispered. "She must be upstairs."

"Who?"

"Eh, later." Her eyes started to get used to the darkness, allowing her to make out the features of a large tilled space. Nothing else, she could barely make out the shadows spread on the walls like a trail of slime left by a snail. She reached out in front of her to avoid running into anything but Sans was faster. His left eye lit up with a magic bright blue beam that swiped the room, revealing a messy office, and more importantly a screen in screen-saver mode connected to a control panel. Sans casually walked to it, followed by an unsure Toriel. "Okay, I'm warning you, I have no idea how this works."

"Oh, uh, that's fine, try anyway. Please." Sans scanned the panel and chose a black button in the middle. The screen lit up.

"Bingo." Sans pronounced, quite happy with himself. However, his joy didn't last very long. The screen showed the last thing its surveillance had been locked onto : the image of a short skeleton and a goat lady, facing away, gazing at a screen, appeared before them in bright pixels. "Well shit."

"Sans, what does it mean?" Toriel breathed, sincerely surprised.

"It means someone knows what we're doing."

Toriel didn't have the time to answer. The lights switched on and a startled gasp arrived to them from the other side of the room. Toriel and Sans turned around to find themselves in front of a young lizard-woman with yellow scales, wearing a scientist blouse and whose eyes were growing rounder than saucers behind thick glasses. "Hi, Alphys," Sans said with his eternal unfathomable smile. "What's up?"


	7. Chapter 7

Toriel wasn't sure just how she should react. Obviously, they had been caught in the act of doing something certainly incorrect, so she was preparing to defend herself against the newcomer. But at the same time, Sans seemed to know her, since he was calling her by name. Though, to be honest, he seemed to know everyone in the Underground. He had his hands in his pockets and didn't look worried. She couldn't see his eyes, so she couldn't be sure, but there didn't appear to be a danger.

Alphys blinked two or three times from behind her huge round glasses, raised a hand to her lips, shaking her head, and started jumping on the same spot with a look that one couldn't decide if it was panic or excitement, maybe both. "Y-y-y-y-you two?!... H-how? Why-y?... Oh my gosh, I didn't... wasn't expecting... Maybe I should've but... O-o-oh my god, what do I do, what do I do!" She started mechanically scratching the scales at the back of her head, which seemed to amuse the short skeleton quite a lot.

"Sans, who is she?" Toriel asked silently.

Not silently enough, though, for Alphys heard her and managed to get a hold of herself. Her hands sprung away from her neck and crossed on her stomach as a nervous smiled tried to form on her lips. She looked like a child caught doing something wrong, even though they were the ones who came in without permission. "I'm the royal scientist, Alphys! Pleased to meet you Misses... uh... Misses."

"Oh? Oh! Uh..." Toriel glanced at Sans who still didn't seem worried and chose to trust him. However, she didn't remove the cape shadowing her face. "Me too, Alphys. Are you a friend of Sans's?"

"Uh, i-it's complicated." she stuttered. "Let's just say the friend of a friend." Toriel waited for her to continue but she didn't. The two women just nervously stared at each other, unsure of what they could and couldn't say.

"So, Alphys, you gonne tell us why your cameras love us that much, right now?" Sans said, completely tension-proof.

"Ah, yes, yes, sorry!" Alphys stuttered again, despite the fact they were the intruders and not the other way around. She ran to the control panel and punched a button. The screen divided itself into a mosaic of little pictures that seemed to police the entire Underground. "H-h-how should I put this... I saw you talking at the end of the ruins." She pointed a clawed finger at on of the pictures focused of the large door where Sans and Toriel used to share jokes. Toriel gasped and raised a hand to her lips but Alpphys turned to her before she could say anything. "I know about the human BUT please don't worry I promise I won't tell anyone!"

"Why wouldn't you? Aren't you the royal scientist?" Toriel questioned, cautious.

"I-I still have a conscience!" Alphys replied, almost upset. "Besides, Frisk is only a little baby, putting her in danger would be of no use to anyone!"

"Don't worry, Toriel." Sans interrupted. "If she wanted to tell Asgore or the royal guard, Frisk would already be theirs as we speak."

"That's what I'm worried about." Toriel whispered. "How can we know she wasn't involved in her disappearance?"

"What? Frisk is gone?"

Sans and Toriel turned to an Alphys genuinely surprised of the news. "I thought you were watching us with your cameras?"

"yes, but I don't set cameras inside the houses! I saw you in the street, and then I had to go to the bathroom and... O-oh my god! That's why you're here!" Alphys exclaimed, her eyes lit up by her sudden realization. She didn't wait for an answer before getting to work on the control panel, checking the pictures one by one looking for the young human. "Don't worry, with this device we'll find her! My cameras are watching all of the Underground, from the ruins door to king Asgore's castel, in New Home! Except for the inside of the houses, of course." she added. She still seemed nervous, but her smile was suddenly more sincere, wider. She was obviously very excited to play a part in rescuing the little human. Toriel and Sans closed in on the screen, slightly comforted by the presence of a new ally.

The pictures scrolled quickly on the screen, showing snowy landscapes and almost empty streets and trees and flowers and stones and waterfalls and lava rivers. But no sign of a human baby, nor of a little yellow flower. Alphys, confident at first, started to sweat. "We... We must've missed something!" She said before starting over with a new series of pictures she examined fretfully. Toriel was growing worried, and Sans was growing bored.

"I'm so sorry," Alphys sighed after a third unsuccessful research. "I really thought I could help you but... But it lookes like... It was no use..."

"There there," Toriel comforted her, feeling sorry for her miserable and contrite look. "Of course it was of some use!"

"R-really?"

"Yes!" though still worried, Toriel offered a large smile to the lizard-woman and the skeleton. "If Frisk is nowhere to be seen in the rest of the Underground, it simply means she was brought back into the ruins!"

"Why would Flowey do that?"

"Maybe because he knew we couldn't find him this way! Excellent deduction, Misses!" Alphys exclaimed with shiny eyes.

"Oh, please call me Toriel." The goat woman turned to Sans. "I'll go back in the ruins and look for Frisk and the miserable creature who kidnapped her. You should go home, your brother might get worried."

"'Kay"

Alphys held both of them back for a few more minutes, just so they could exchange their phone numbers and warn the others in case Frisk was found. Sans didn't have a phone but gave Papyrus's number, just in case. Finally, Toriel left for the ruins and Sans took a shortcut hom. Alphys stayed in her laboratory, alone, lovingly eyeing the two new contacts on her phone. However, as she glanced over Toriel's name, she frowned.

"Huh... Where did I hear that name?"


	8. Chapter 8

His "shortcut" landed him right in front of the house; better not give his brother a heart attack by suddenly appearing in the middle of the living room. Now that the "lost human baby" case was none of his business anymore, he felt a little more relaxed, as if someone had taken a weight away from his shoulders. He trusted Toriel to punish the culprit, be it Flowey or someone else, and planned to drown the remaining worries in a good night of sleep (if he managed) and two or three bottles of ketchup at Grillby's for breakfast.

He pushed the front door and came in, leaving a few snowflakes that had had the time to fall on his slippers on the carpet. Upon hearing the door shut, Papyrus ran at him, holding a wooden spoon covered with tomato sauce, an apron tied around his waist. Sans stared back at his brother's glare with the most innocent smile in the world, his hands casually slipped into his pockets, not even trying to get to his room so he could avoid the lecture he was being banged on the head with – something about his brother being worried when he left without a word. He was so used to it he didn't even hear it anymore. Besides, he had to admit he deserved it, this time, nothing would have happened had he not fallen asleep while taking care of Frisk.

He was expecting the smell of something burning, or the sound of water falling on the stove, or even the bark of that weird dog which only purpose seemed to be annoying his brother, to put an end to the lecture. He was wrong. Both him and Papyrus froze upon hearing a small frustrated cry in the kitchen.

Sans didn't dare to believe the hunch his mind came up with immediately. All the weight of the afternoon's troubles suddenly fell right back on him, as if some troublesome ghost had been holding them there, waiting for him to let his guard down. Papyrus's face, however, suddenly lit up as if he had just remembered something. "OH, YES! I CAUGHT the MOUSE you told me about!"

"The mouse…" Sans felt like he wasn't going to like what was coming.

"YES! Do you remember? The BIG MOUSE? WELL, YOUR BROTHER, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CAUGHT IT!"

"That's… That's good, bro."

"BUT! It seems YOU had MADE A MISTAKE!"

"No kidding?"

"YES! COME AND SEE!" Madly excited, the younger of the two skeletons took his brother who was still stiff like a board, by the arm and pulled him into the kitchen. And Sans let out a resigned breath when his hunch proved to be right.

Frisk sat in a baby chair before the counter, face covered with sauce, and was letting out pitiful cries as she reached out eagerly towards the bowl of vegetable sauce that was tempting her, right out of her reach. Papyrus ran to her with a bright smile and went back to what he was clearly doing before his brother came home, which was feeding the famished little human who giggled with contentment when she spotted the spoon. "SEE?" He told Sans who was still standing in the kitchen's doorway, astounded. "It's NOT a MOUSE!" he stated proudly.

"Ah, yeah, you're right, it's…" Sans hesitated, unsure whether or not Papyrus knew himself what he was happily stuffing with boiled vegetables.

"It's a BABY MONSTER, obviously, Sans!" Frisk made a little noise to which Papyrus answered with a funny face before giving her another spoonful of food. "They are MOST PROBABLY LOST and found shelter IN OUR KITCHEN! So, OF COURSE, THE GREAT PAPYRUS had to come to their rescue!"

"Where'd you found them?"

"Under the SINK! They couldn't find the door, NYEHEHE!" Sans swore silently. With Papyrus in the doorway, he hadn't had the possibility to search so thoroughly earlier.

Well, at least, the good news was that Frisk wasn't gone anymore. And the second good news was that his brother didn't find out she was a little human. After all, he had only seen adults. Not to mention theyr were only drawings. It was impossible for him to link them to that tiny crawling thing that didn't speak. Sans breathed with relief as he walked to the counter and leaned against it, next to Frisk who kept gladly eating whatever Papyrus was feeding her.

The third good news was that Papyrus had obviously taken very good care of the child, which meant Toriel shouldn't get mad about it. Sans raised an eyebrow he didn't have when he noticed Papyrus, on top of having cooked her something to eat, had found the old blue onesie with white bone patterns that had been laying around somewhere upstairs – Sans remembered it, it was the one his brother wore himself when he was just a baby bone himself – to dress the human in. The baby chair too must have been in a closet, or maybe in the attic. It was quite unexpected, Sans didn't know Papyrus was so good with children. Well, it was the first time he'd see him take care of a baby but still! Papyrus still needed a bedtime story, it was like seeing a child take care of a younger child.

Frisk had the time to finish her bowl of boiled vegetables before Sans suddenly remembered why she was in Snowdin in the first place: wasn't she supposed to be sick? Or poisoned, or something? According to her content look, at least, she was eating again, and wasn't hurt anymore. Sans didn't know if this was a good or bad sign, human biology was none of his business.

"Bro, when you found them, was everything fine about the baby bones?" he said, as nonchalant as he could. Papyrus hummed thoughtfully as he dropped his cooking tools in the sink.

"Well, they seemed HUNGRY and COLD, but I took care of this!"

"Nah, I mean… They didn't look sick or anything?"

Papyrus gave him a doubtful look. "Why would they be sick? Do they look sick to you?"

"No, no, they…" Sans suddenly had an idea as he looked at the little human, following their conversation with large curious eyes. "Actually yes."

"Why?"

"Aren't baby monsters always covered with fur in Snowdin? Others wouldn't come here, it's too cold."

Papyrus attentively looked at the human, and Sans prayed for him to buy it.

The results were almost instant. "YOU'RE RIGHT!" Exclaimed Papyrus with huge eyes. "They only have FUR on the top of their head!" He turned to his brother, suddenly worried. "Does this means…"

"They are shedding? Maybe…"

"OH MY GOD!" Papyrus started gesturing wildly about, which made Frisk giggle, and Sans as well, a little. "THEY ARE SHEDDING? THEY MUST BE SICK! MAYBE EVEN DYING! THE GREAT PAPYRUS MUST DO SOMETHING!" He paused. "But what?"

"Oh, you know, there aren't that many solutions," Sans breathed, shrugging. "I would go see the doctor Alphys, she would know what to do."

"Of COURSE! The royal scientist must know how to heal baby monsters!"

Papyrus's gaze lit up and Sans couldn't help but add. "In this case we should probably… _furry_ over there!"

Papyrus glared at him but refused to even acknowledge his pun. Instead, he grabbed Frisk under the armpits and sat her on his arm, much to the little girl's glee as she was higher than she had ever been. "VERY WELL! Let's GO!"

"Wow, hold on, bro!" Sans stopped him. "Don't you want me to take care of that?"

Papyrus gave him a funny look. "No thank you! I started taking care of this little monster and the GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS finishes what he STARTED!"

Sans sighed. Of course it couldn't be that easy. "Ok, fine, whatever. Tell Al' I said hi."

Papyrus nodded as he passed the front door and closed it, a very enthusiastic Frisk in his arms. Sans ran a hand on his face. And he hoped the troubles were over…

"Here we go again…" he sighed.

And after another shortcut, he was at Alphys's.


	9. Chapter 9

If Papyrus had had the time necessary to complete Frisk's dinner, Alphys however was just getting started, and almost spilled her bowl of instant noodles when she heard a menacing voice hiss through her ears: "Don't you know how to greet a guest?"

Jump. Alphys shot around and let out a small offended cry. She set the bowl back on her desk, catching with the tip of her claws a noodle that had managed to fall on her lab coat in the agitation, and paused the episode of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie that was playing on her computer screen. Sans, who had just appeared out of thin air behind her, couldn't repress a laugh when he saw her furious expression. And he didn't even had to use the whoopee cushion. Alphys stood up from her chair.

"N-not funny, Sans, you scared me!" she pouted, a little grumpy from being interrupted in the middle of her favorite anime.

"Now that's a cold welcome!" Sans said in-between two snickers. The lizard-lady crossed her arms, pouting, then frowned from confusion.

"Why are you here, did you forget something?"

"Nah, I just need a phone," the skeleton said through his smiling teeth. Alphys tilted her head as her reached for the mobile phone in her pocket with a dubious look.

"Why didn't you use Papyrus's?"

"Because he's on his way here with Baby Bones." Alphys needed a few seconds to understand. And when she finally understood, she was so excited Sans had to explain briefly what had happened so she'd calm down and agree to give him her phone so he could tell Toriel.

"Okay, okay," she stuttered as she presented him the high-tech device – she had probably conceived herself. "Oh my gosh, it's incredible. So Papyrus is coming over, right? Right, I'm, I'm gonna… Keep an eye on them, right?"

"Yeah, you do that," said Sans, the phone held against his ear canal. Alphys was already heading to her surveillance screen, ready to search the Underground once more, looking for the baby human and her very conscientious babysitter. Sans chose to turn to an empty wall of the lab, focused on the ringing hissing into his skull, smiling to himself thinking about Toriel's relief when she'll know her kid was alright.

"Hello, this is Toriel," said a soft voice when someone picked up the phone.

"Knock knock," just said Sans.

"Sans?" The voice sounded surprised before picking up on him. "Oh, sorry! Who's there?"

"Goat."

"Goat… Who?"

"Frisk, that's who we goat. We found her," Sans finished, laughing at his own joke. Toriel couldn't help but laugh along, but her relief and surprise soon took over again.

"Really? You aren't joking, Sans?"

"Nope, we know where she is," he confirmed. "She's on her way to the lab, you should come too."

"On her way? What do you mean, on her way? Sans, where is she? Where was she, how did you…"

"Easy, easy," Sans interrupted her. "Papyrus was the one who found her. Apparently, humans like to play hide and go seek, and… Well I guess I'm not very good at this game."

"Papyrus?" Toriel worried. Sans could hear a bit of crackle and realized after a few seconds she had started to run, with the phone rubbing against her furry cheek. "Is Frisk alright? What happened?"

"Toriel, really, don't worry, my brother wouldn't hurt a fly!" Sans reassured her. "Besides, he didn't even understand she was human. He thinks she's a lost baby monster. I made him believe she was shedding and needed to see a doctor, and that's why he's coming here." As he said that, he frowned, remembering something. "She's feeling much better, by the way. When I came home, Papyrus was stuffing her with vegetable sauce."

"Really?" The crackling suddenly stopped, Toriel had stopped from surprise and relief. Relief because an appeased sigh followed her word. "Good, I was so worried it'd be too late! It is quite strange, she was refusing to eat anything!"

"Well, at least she's healed, right?" Sans shrugged, and thought to himself it was stupid to do this on the phone. He was about to continue when he heard Alphys calling his name from the surveillance screen. "Yes, two seconds, I'm coming," he said before continuing. "Anyway, Papyrus took very good care of Baby Bones, you even won a secondhand onesie, and he's on his way to the lab, so you should come over to take her back as soon as you can."

"Understood." The crackling started again. Sans was about to hang up as he told Alphys when Toriel spoke again : "Sans?"

"Yeah?"

"Knock knock."

Sans smile, or at least did the equivalent of a smile on his still face. "Who's there?"

"Tank."

"Sans!" Alphys called again and Sans raised a hand to say he was coming, hold on a second, thanks.

"Tank who?"

"No, thank _you_ ," Toriel giggled. "For your help, thank you, Sans."

Sans's blue magic betrayed him and started shining through his cheekbones – he was blushing. "You're welcome, Toriel. See you soon."

"See you soon." She hung up. Sans took the phone away from his head and turned around to see a very obviously frustrated Alphys.

"Yes, okay, what is it?"

"A problem, that's what it is!"

And then, Sans understood. Alphys wasn't frustrated from being ignored, she was worried. Her eyebrows had taken the shape of accents over her round eyes that showed just a little too much white. The scales at the base of her neck were scratched, and she was biting her lips and fidgeting. What now?

"W-w-we have to get to Undyne's. N-now," Alphys pressed.

"Ok." Sans didn't ask, he doubted there was time for an answer. The Royal Gard's captain's name, when there was a human at stake, was NEVER a good thing. However, he did have the idea of taking the nearest pen to write "waterfalls" on a random post-it, in case they weren't there when Toriel would arrive.

"Quick, quick, oh my god, not good, not good," Alphys worried, jumping on the spot and glancing frequently at the surveillance screen. Sans grabbed her arm, which calmed her slightly, and pulled her towards the exit. "We won't be there in time, it's over!" squealed the royal scientist, but Sans shook his head.

"I know a shortcut." And they both disappeared, teleported, at the very moment the surveillance screen was lighting up with the electric blue of a magic spear.


	10. Chapter 10

At first, Papyrus had purely reflexively headed towards Waterfalls. That was where Undyne would meet him for reports and training and he went there on foot nearly every day, which is why he hadn't immediately thought that riding the Riverperson's boat would get them to Hotland faster. He only realized that halfway between Snowdin and Waterfalls, and decided he wasn't going to turn back now. Besides, his baby monster was quivering in his arms. Better get to a warmer place first, then he'd figure things out. He'd look stupid if the baby caught a cold over shedding their fur.

They were barely past the area where the snow melted when Frisk signified to him, very clearly, that she loved Waterfalls. Her large hazel eyes kept wondering with amazement over her surroundings. She'd throw a fit of laughter when Papyrus lifted her over his head to cross high grass – "WHOOPSIE DAISY! COMING THROUGH!" The pretty shining stones, on the walls and ceiling, especially caught her eye. Sometimes, she'd reach out to try and touch them, and when he could, Papyrus would lift her again until she did.

It was late already, there were barely anyone outside at this hour. Everyone was having diner, or already in bed. Except for a few teenagers who'd sneak out and whose whispers the echo flowers would repeat each time Papyrus shoved them.

 _Wanna hear a joke?_

 _Come on, we're gonna be l…_

 _Over here!_

 _Oh Mary~ Contrary~ How does your garden grow~_

 _So the bear says to the snowman…_

She was surprised, the first time. She had wiggled about, looking for the voice's owner, to the point she almost fell from Papyrus's arms. Then, after a few more tries, she ended up realizing the flowers were talking, and started crying out happily every time Papyrus touched one.

 _Tell me your wish._

 _Come on, let's swim!_

… _thes in the bushes, see?_

Papyrus soon figured out what was amusing her this much and gladly "accidentally" shoved as many flowers as he could. He was almost forgetting about the baby monster's assumed illness. They didn't look sick at all, after all, he might as well take some time on the way to have fun. He suddenly had an idea.

"Baby! Do you want to see something very cool?" Frisk looked at him, oblivious. Papyrus settled her a little better on his arm, raised his other hand to his mouth like a megaphone and yelled : "NYEHEHEHEHE I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, FUTUR AMAZING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD!" Frisk slapped her little hands over her ears, emitting a high-pitched cry to show her disapproval. Papyrus apologized by cradling her a little, then, without another word, picked up a stone lying on the floor and threw it in the middle of an echo flower patch. An opera of Papyrus voices suddenly flowed into Waterfalls, and Frisk forgot about being angry.

 _Nyehehehehe I am the Great Papyrus, future amazing member of the royal guard!_

… _am the Great Papyrus, future amazing member of the royal guard!_

… _hehe I am the Great Papyrus, future amazing member of the roy…_

Frisk laughed and clapped her hands, pleased. Papyrus bowed his head like a king, flattered. He walked faster, shoving as many flowers as he could on his way, as they sung his phrase around them.

… _the Great Papyrus, future amazing member of the royal guard!_

… _Great Papyrus, future amazing member of the…_

… _Papyrus, future amazing member of the royal guard!_

"Papyrus, what the heck are you doing?!"

Papyrus jumped and stopped, almost falling over. He turned around. Undyne, hair down, wearing only a tank top and sweat pants, was staring at him with a completely perplexed look. The skeleton looked around, a little surprised. He hadn't realized until now, but his running had brought him very close to the Royal Guard Captain's house.

"Oh, hello Undyne! I was playing with Baby… Nyehe, I guess we're a little bit too noisy, aren't we?"

The fish lady didn't answer, her stunned eye stuck to the little girl wiggling in Papyrus's arms as she didn't understand why the game was over. Papyrus followed her gaze and his face lit up.

"Oh, you two are not introduced yet! Baby, meet Undyne! Undyne, this is Baby!"

"Where did that come from?" Undyne exclaimed, still very perplexed.

"From… My closet? I found them at home, and now I'm bringing them to Dr. Alphys."

"Why?"

"Because they are shedding! They might be sick!"

Undyne sighed and pinched her forehead. "For the love of Asgore, Papyrus, they are not shedding."

"How would you know?"

"Because humans don't have any fur to shed!"

"Uh… I know? What about it?

"Oh my God, Papyrus!" yelled an exasperated Undyne. She pointed at Frisk. "This. Is. A. Human."

Papyrus blinked once or twice and looked at the little girl in his arms. "That's a human baby?"

"That's a human baby," Undyne repeated.

"It's a human baby!" Papyrus's face lit up with a huge smile and he started jumping up and down, completely overexcited, causing Frisk to laugh. "Does this mean I finally captured a human?"

"I guess?" Undyne shrugged but couldn't repress the large smile deforming her jaw as she witnessed the joy of the adorable idiot she called her student. She hesitated for a moment when she saw the cute little thing giggled in the skeleton's arms, and shook her head. Orders are orders. She reached out. "Give it to me, now. I'll bring it to the king."

"Oh, yes, yes, right!" Papyrus took a few steps, then looked at Frisk and looked puzzled. "Uh, hey, Undyne? Why does the king want humans, by the way?"

"To break the barrier, of course!" Undyne said a little too fast. Papyrus looked confused.

"I don't think Baby knows how to do that either."

"No but… It… Gaaah, Papyrus, I'm tired, ok? It's too late for this kind of questions! Give it to me so we can get this over with!"

"But it's a baby!" Papyrus cried, almost offended. "You have to be careful, they're fragile!"

Undyne gritted her teeth. "I know, I'll be careful, I promise."

That's not so sure, actually, Papyrus thought without daring to say it out loud. A drop of sweat was slowly rolling on his temple. Undyne was growing urgent, something was wrong. The skeleton might be naturally innocent, but he wasn't as thick as he let show. In his arms, Frisk's eyes travelled between him and Undyne, filled with curiosity. "O… Of course you'll be careful, Undyne!" the skeleton said with a big smile, hoping to deescalate the growing tension. "But maybe the king didn't think Baby couldn't open the barrier. What if I came with you, we could talk about it, what do you say?

Undyne sighed between he clenched jaws, tense, and her eye quickly looked around before focusing on Papyrus again. Yes, clearly, something was wrong. "Stop that, give it to me, go home and forget about it, do you hear me?"

"Eh, but why? Undyne, I have the very vague feeling there is something you do not wish to tell me."

"Damn it Papyrus, that's it!" the fish lady snapped at him, and Papyrus jolted. The hand she held out turned upwards and closed around a suddenly materialized magic spear. Others appeared behind her, dangerous, ready to throw. "As head of the Royal Guard and in the name of king Asgore, I ask you to hand the human to me."

"Undyne, please!" Papyrus held Frisk closer. The little girl wasn't laughing anymore, she looked shared between confusion and panic. She started to whine, frightened. "You are scaring me, what's wrong? We can always talk!"

"Undyne, n-no! Don't hurt them!"

Undyne and Papyrus both jumped. Sans on his brother's side in a second, aggressive, protective, left eye lit with a dangerous bright blue. As for Alphys, she walked hesitatingly into the space between the skeletons and the fish lady, trying not to look too terrified.

"Alphys? What the hell is your problem today, you all!?" Undyne roared. "Let me do my fucking work, damn it!"

"Undyne, killing the human won't do any good!" Alphys spat in one breathe.

Papyrus jumped, but didn't say anything. Frisk had started crying in his arms, scared by all the yelling. Sans wanted to slap Alphys. Neither him nor Undyne had ever had the nerve to tell Papyrus the truth about the humans' fate when they were brought to the king. Undyne, filled with rage, now seemed far from those worries.

"Alphys, get out of my way!"

"N-n-no, Undyne, you don't get it…"

The Captain wasn't listening and seemed about to attack, completely mad with some sort of overwhelming rage. Sans reacted immediately. The monstress's soul went blue and she was suddenly stuck to the ground. A bone broke the spear in your hand, just in case. "Damn, dude, you need to see someone about your anger issues," he commented casually.

Undyne hissed at him like an angry cat, but Sans was holding her soul. It would last a few minutes, at most, so the skeleton was getting ready to take his brother and teleport. Papyrus was petrified, stunned, like he couldn't believe what was happening. Frisk was sobbing in his arms, terrified.

Alphys gathered up her courage and walked up to her, slowly. "Please, Undyne, calm down."

"You're on their side? What's wrong with you Alphys? That's a human!"

"I know but…"

"The king needs their soul! We are this close to breaking the barrier, Alphys!"

"Undyne, you have to listen to me! This is all just a huge misunderstanding! But first, please, calm down, you are scaring everybody!"

Undyne's incredulous gaze stayed on her for a moment, then rushed to Sans, Papyrus. Frisk. She pressed her face against the ground, deliberately bumping her own forehead, and gave a good long yell while punching the stone, so loud the cave's walls trembled around them. Frisk echoed with a long terrified screech.

Undyne finally looked up, slightly calmer, and looked at Alphys again. "You've got five minutes to convince me, Al', and I hope you know what you are saying."


	11. Chapter 11

Alphys had explained why killing the human would be a mistake, stuttering and mixing up long words until Undyne asked her to start over with a vocabulary she could understand without a dictionary.

Undyne had listened, and the more Alphys had talked, the more her anger had washed down. She wasn't exactly calm, not completely – let's just say being lectured while held down to the ground by your own soul isn't the most relaxing situation. She had to keep herself from commenting several times and was grinding her teeth. At least she was accepting the explanation. Frisk was very lucky the fish lady trusted Alphys so much, and reciprocally. She was barely done when Sans, exhausted, let go of her soul. Undyne got up, a lot more collected, although she still looked awfully tense, and when Sans suggested, yawning, that they went back to the lab to avoid worrying Toriel, she asked to go with them.

Well, so much for not worrying Toriel. Not sure she would be glad to see the head of the royal guard in the same room as her little darling.

Sans had teleported them again. They had barely taken a step on the lab's tiles when the little skeleton slumped down onto the floor, curled up like a child and started snoring like he didn't have a care in the world. Papyrus opened his mouth in protest, as usual, but he had to admit he had never seen his brother work so hard in so little time and elected to let him sleep, just like little Frisk whose rollercoaster of emotions had tired out and who had dozed off in the middle of the royal scientist's explanations.

The three monsters walked around the sleepy skeleton. Toriel wasn't there yet, the post-it Sans had left on the desk was untouched. Alphys went and got a couple of chairs for Papyrus and Undyne and all three of them sat in awkward silence.

Hard to start a conversation after such a dispute. "A-are you hungry? Thirsty?" Alphys tried. "I've got instant noodles. Do you want instant noodles?" Papyrus and Undyne politely refused. Alphys scratched the bottom of her neck and her feet lightly tapped the air. Quick, an idea, something to say, something to do… her gaze fell onto Frisk. "Papyrus?"

"Nyeh?" The skeleton looked up like he had been somewhere else.

"Would you let me examine Frisk? Toriel said she was sick, so m-maybe I should m-make sure she's okay?"

Papyrus's gaze fell on Frisk, then fluttered back to Alphys, then Undyne, then Alphys again, and he finally nodded. Alphys got up and went to take Frisk into her arms, then seemed to remember something. She apologized and spent a whole fifteen minutes looking for different medical instruments throughout the different rooms of the messy lab. When she came back, she was pulling a wheeled examination table behind her, and she had a stethoscope around her neck. This time, she delicately held her arms out to take Frisk out of Papyrus's hands.

Frisk whined and opened tired little eyes. Tiny sobs seemed to awaken with her and Alphys git worried. "No, no! Don't cry, everything is fine! Uh, me nice? Me friend?"

"It's a baby, Alphys. Not an alien," Undyne said. She kept and even tone, but as she turned to her, Alphys saw she was trying not to smile. Alphys felt a bubble of relief pop inside her chest, she couldn't stand Undyne being angry, especially against her. If she could feel amused, then the situation might not be as bad as it seemed.

Papyrus waved at Frisk to get her attention and pulled a funny face that seemed to calm her down a bit. The tall skeleton's presence seemed to reassure her. When Alphys took her to the examination table, the tiny human kept her eyes on him.

"She seems to like you a lot," Undyne noticed.

"Of course! Everybody loves the Great Papyrus!" he said. He looked slightly distracted, worried, although he kept a smiling face. Things had to be said, and neither him nor Undyne were sure they wanted to say them. So they looked away, as if they could ignore those words drifting between them.

Alphys was examining the human and felt pretty good about having something to do. Frisk was looking at her with curious eyes that didn't really know what to think. She stayed put as the monstress worked.

"Papyrus?" Undyne suddenly said, after several minutes of denial.

"Hm?"

"Listen, I'm sorry for attacking you earlier."

Papyrus briefly looked surprised, and then smiled again. "Oh! Do not worry, you didn't attack me!"

"Fine, almost attacking you." She still had pulled her spears out…

"It was nothing, Undyne! I know you had to do your job!" Papyrus assured her, and he spoke with a softer, more sincere tone when he added : "And I also know you wouldn't really have attacked me, you just wanted to scare me! Uh… Please don't do it again, though!"

Papyrus, always ready to forgive anything to anyone. Undyne would never know how he managed to do it. "We don't deserve you, bonehead," she muttered, almost for herself.

"Thank you…?" They went silent for a moment. Papyrus was fidgeting with his gloves. "I would wish to apologize as well!"

"For what?"

"Well… For making you angry, mostly."

"I'm always at least a little angry, you don't have to apologize for that."

"No, but that's different!" Papyrus's gaze dove deep into his friend and mentor's only eye and Undyne felt a pinch of guilt when she saw his put out face. "I'm your friend, but you didn't even want to tell me what the king really wanted to do with the humans! You thought I wasn't up to it, didn't you? You didn't trust me. Nyehe, you knew I restrain myself when I'd fight." Undyne clenched her fists when she heard the joyless laugh. "And worse of all is I know that, if I had known, I would probably have tried to stop you. Even if I really just want to be friends with everyone, in the end I can't help anybody. You must think I really am just a bonehead."

"Papyrus, shut up!" Undyne yelled, sitting at the edge of her seat, and Papyrus startled. "You don't get it! You think we didn't tell you because we were worried you'd be on the human's side? We didn't tell you anything because we didn't want you to be hurt! You're the only monster I know who'd stay outside all night, waiting for me to train you, only to refuse to hurt anyone! You're a real treasure in this world and I forbid you from thinking even for one second that you're worth any less because you refused to kill a baby!"

Tears shone deep inside Papyrus's large eye sockets and Undyne wondered if he needed a hug. The answer was yes. But she wasn't fast enough and found herself trapped in a pair of bony arms before she could breath. "UNDYNE! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS EXTREMELY GRATEFUL! AND FROM NOW ON I WILL DO MY BEST TO BECOME EVEN MORE AMAZING THAN I ALREADY AM!"

A huge smile grew on Undyne's face, so proud it shouldn't be allowed. Her own arms circled Papyrus and she hugged him so hard she almost carried him off the ground. "THAT'S MORE LIKE IT, PUNK!"

"NYEH!"

"NYARGH!"

"Wh-aaah!" cried a third voice that made everyone turn to the lab's entrance.

Toriel was finally here, and in her hurry had sloped down to the floor in her black cape, which made her look like a pile of old abandoned laundry. She had tripped on Sans's lying body and the skeleton had opened his eyes with difficulty when the former queen's large white paws had fallen on him. He yawned, rubbed his face and vaguely tried to sit. "What's up?"

Toriel looked up to take in the situation, and suddenly had a smile that was just slightly too happy. "Not me, that's for sure!"

Sans blinked and they both started to laugh as Papyrus was regretting the day he was born, in the background. "Well Tori, may I ask if you had a nice… trip?"

"Oh my god, Sans, this is getting WORSE and WORSE!" cried out an exasperated Papyrus. I cannot BELIEVE you found someone who'd fall as LOW as you!"

And in an instant, all eyes were on Papyrus. Undyne, Alphys, Sans and Toriel, all of them were looking at him, vainly trying to choke their laughter back into their throat. Papyrus looked at each of them without understanding. "What? What did I say? Wh…" At the exact moment he realized precisely what he had said, horror overflowed his face. His eye sockets grew large with disgust and his hand shot up to his mouth, full of shame. "Oh god, no…" he said in a whisper, and it was like a signal.

Undyne, Alphys, Sans and Toriel burst into a fit of laughter, at the same time, unable to stop as a mortified Papyrus tried his best not to laugh as well at his involuntary pun. Frisk was laughing too, sitting on the exam table, her back helped up by Alphys's clawed hands, and for a few moments it was like everything was fine. Like nothing had happened. Like there was no royal guard, no barrier, no law asking for the death of a child fallen from the surface. There were only friends happily laughing together, and nobody to stop them.


	12. Chapter 12

They had to calm down, introduce themselves again, remember the whole situation, but it all happened without any more conflicts. People don't always know how good a fit of laughter can be to lighten the mood and bring people together. At this point, Toriel, with her love for puns and complicity with Sans became almost automatically a sister to Papyrus. For best and for worse. Introducing her to Undyne was slightly more difficult, especially when they had to tell the former queen about the conflict they had earlier. Thankfully, Alphys vouched for her, and when she apologized properly Toriel decided she'd let it go. The whole time, in the background, Papyrus was giving his best shot at getting Sans to stand after the skeleton decided to pretend he was sleeping again.

Alphys gave Frisk back to Toriel who received her with tears of joy and relief and held her close. "I examined her," the scientist informed her. "Y-you were right about the buttercup, the symptoms are clear : her mouth and throat are irritated, and even burned at some places, and her digestive system is still very sensitive, b-but she must have not consumed much, otherwise the damage would have been a lot worse!"

"Can I do something for her?" Toriel asked.

"No, no, you just have to wait, she will get better soon. Her life isn't in danger anymore, you can thank Papyrus for this."

And the skeleton bragged about his culinary talent. Good thing he hadn't tried making spaghetti. Toriel profusely thanked everyone for taking care of Frisk and protecting her, not knowing how she could ever pay them back. "I do have an idea," Sans whispered discreetly. Toriel turned to him.

"Yes?"

"You could stay with us."

Toriel raised her eyebrows, looking slightly surprised, but to be completely honest, she had already thought of this. She looked at Frisk who had fallen asleep in her arms – it was already late night by now – and shook her head. "Nobody can know where we are, frisk and I. Are only home are the ruins."

Everybody was silent. If Toriel stuck to her decision, they wouldn't see her in a long while. Papyrus looked sad. Sans talked again. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Taking care of a baby alone is already daunting, but in the ruins you wouldn't have anyone to help you if something went wrong."

"T-that's true!" Alphys cut in. "Frisk has all her chances of being i-ill again! Or hurting herself! There are no doctors in the ruins. No children her age either. Actually, there isn't anything."

"I'll manage," Toriel assured. "I lived there for so long, I have tricks, habits. And someone has to keep an eye on the entrance, in case other humans fell down."

"That's true, you're right," Sans conceded. "But nothing would keep you from going there to do so. While if you locked yourself up again…"

"Not to mention Snowdin is a wonderful place!" Papyrus added, eyes shining with hope. "People are lovely and they love us! There are many families with children and a school and if you need to go somewhere you can just ride the Riverperson's boat! And if anyone bothers you, I, the GREAT PAPYRUS, and my brother, we'll be there to protect you!"

"It's very nice of you both, thank you Papyrus. But if Frisk is seen and someone tells Asgore about her…"

"Oh, right, about that…" Undyne said, looking slightly awkward. "When it comes to Snowdin monsters, there are no risks; they don't know what a human looks like, trust me. Even less a baby. And the ones that could eventually find out would never hurt a little girl. However, uh…" She clenched her fist and unclenched nervously. "I'll have to tell Asgore myself."

"What?!" Toriel exclaimed, astonished, ready to snap at her. "I thought you were on our side!"

"I'm still head of the Royal Guard!" Undyne protested. "I wouldn't hurt Frisk but I have to intentions of betraying my king! Alphys said she had nothing to worry about anyway, right?"

"R-right," Alphys confirmed. "King Asgore can't hurt her. N-n-not yet, at l-least," she added, looking a little unsure. Toriel send her a dubious look and Alphys scratched her neck. "Maybe I should explain again?"

Toiel nodded. Alphys walked up at her computer screen and set up a group of documents, including a graph and a series of charts full of numbers.

"One could compare the evolution of soul power according to age with the evolution of a natural logarithm," she explained. "The power is infinitely small at birth but grows exponentially for about a year. Then growth slows down with time and evolves in different ways, depending of the type of monster. Uh…" Alphys scratched her neck again. "I-I don't really have enough data on humans to give exact results b-but their souls assuredly follow a similar evolution. All this to say Frisk's soul isn't powerful enough yet to break the barrier, and the king would never hurt a child without a good reason. There is no immediate danger."

Toriel still seemed dubious. "How much time?"

"What?"

"How much time before it is powerful enough?

"I-I-I can't be s-sure b-b-but…" Alphys stopped to take a deep breath and averted her eyes. "Four years? Maybe five. It depends on how old she is exactly."

"That's not enough," Toriel said. "She'll be in danger as soon as she'll be of any use to that… To Asgore."

"It won't happen, Toriel," Sans said, calmly. "People in Snowdin love nothing more than they love their children. In the ruins, you'll be alone, you and Frisk, but if you come live with us, the whole town will support you. We will support you. Isn't that better than hiding for the rest of your lives?"

Toriel silently gave it some thought, weighting the pros and cons, thinking only of what would be best for Frisk. She was scared, both for the little human and for herself. She had spent so many years alone in the ruins, with the Froggits and Whimsuns, watching as time went by, as humans came and left. Going back to a real town like Snowdin. Would people recognize her? If Asgore ever learned she was there, would he come meet her? He had better not. Toriel had decided never to forgive him.

But she was an adult, she could choose to live alone in the ruins. Frisk was going to grow up, she was going to need to meet new people, to learn, to live. Toriel had no right to take that away from her. And the one who would convince her to give up on her child had yet to be born.

"I'll stay," she whispered, and an unexpected smile stretched her lips. She felt her eyes sting. She hadn't realized she was so moved by her new friend's concern. "I'll stay with you if you'll have me."

Papyrus let out a scream of joy and Alphys cheered. Undyne's smile was reaching her ears, ans as for Sans, when she turned to him, he was thanking her from the bottom of his eye sockets. Frisk wiggled in her mother's arms, bothered by the noise. Her little heart was beating like a drum, to the rhythm of her dreams.

When she opened her eyes, the next day, she was still in her mother's arms as she slept on the couch, in the skeleton brothers' living room. Papyrus was already doing something in the kitchen. Sans was probably still in bed.

The sun was rising, somewhere. It was the start of a new day, but more importantly of a new life.

There was a child in the living room. Frisk smiled at them.

* * *

And that's the end of Act 1! Thank you for reading so far, peeps, and stay tuned for the second part : Frisk actually living with their newfound family!


	13. Chapter 13

Toriel and Frisk quickly saw the skeleton brothers' house as their home. Of course, moving in didn't happen as smoothly as it could have, if only when it came to choosing where the human and her mother would sleep.

At first, Sans and Papyrus agreed to share the younger brother's room and leave the second room to their guests, for one because Sans rarely ever slept there anyway, and for two because it was easier for him to move out. The arrangement almost worked, despite the horrified scream Toriel made when she walked into the room and met the piles of dirty laundry and trash littering the floor. She immediately started cleaning, leaving Sans's room in a much better state than she found it in, with Papyrus's help. The taller skeleton almost cried tears of joy when she washed all the dirty socks and when the naked mattress was covered with clean sheets for the first time in forever. When Toriel asked Sans why his room was in such a poor state, he dodged the questions with a bad pun she forced herself not to laugh at.

The real problem only came later, when they had to take care of the self-sustaining trash tornado spinning in a corner that none of the three friends managed to stop, in spite of all the good will in the world. When Toriel asked with a dumbfounded face how that tornado even formed in the first place, Sans just shrugged as his brother pinched himself between the eye sockets. Those two skeletons were something, that was for sure.

Papyrus eventually decided to have Toriel and the tiny human move into the guest room. He'd just have to build a new toolshed. There was (a lot of) work to do and they had to step into the snow to walk to the living room, but it'd probably be a lot better than having to sleep with a cyclone rattling against the walls.

Please note that, although she accepted the arrangement, Toriel later came back regularly to check on her hosts' rooms. Seemed like she couldn't help but mother everyone.

The two brothers' garage, now officially Frisk and Toriel's home, received a good coat of paint, a brand new floor and a fill of furniture. Toriel had brought some of her own things from her house in the ruins, and Papyrus had taken out all the baby stuff he could find in the attic, until the new room was very warm and comfortable. After several days of interior designing, the goat and the child seemed to be ready to settle perfectly into their new life.

As Undyne had predicted, most monsters couldn't even think Frisk was human. For the few ones that could have suspected so, the adults had the idea of making a white onesie with a hood and fake ears, on top of which she could wear the traditional striped clothing children wore, therefor, if one didn't look too close, she looked like a baby furry monster. It was Sans who took care of the sewing, and the results were very good.

Of course, the Snowdin townsfolks were very intrigued by the newcomers. Toriel was worried she'd be recognized, but with New Home's overpopulation, seeing furry monsters moving in wasn't that surprising, and nobody seemed to question her size. As for her name, it was rarely ever mentioned in history books from the "librarby", which preferred to call her by her title, and very few people were old enough to remember her. It was almost shocking to realize how much time had passed since her exile. Depending on the type of monster, it could be several generations prior.

Generally, everyone was very welcoming of her and Frisk. Toriel was getting along especially well with Inny and Hoppy Keeper, the bunny sisters with whom she sometimes spent long afternoons talking about cooking and family. They would always gush about Frisk when Toriel brought her, and let her play in Inny's playpen, with her youngest child. That is, when she didn't find a way out and came back to pull on the skirt of her very surprised mother.

Frisk was an adorable and very affectionate child, but with a few weeks of good treatments and a little more flesh over her bones, she was a lot more active, revealing a curious, adventurous personality that her new family had a hard time keeping up with. The three of them were barely enough to watch over the little rascal that touched everything she could put her little hands on and was already trying to crawl up the stairs. Thankfully, she couldn't open doors yet. They were only half-joking when they said they were worried about the day she would learn how to walk. At least, there was always Alphys and her cameras.

Fortunately, they could always count on each other's help to take care of the child. Toriel generally had the priority, but when she had to go out or to do something, one of the brothers would take over. Papyrus was tireless and could play with Frisk for hours; Toriel trusted him enough to let him take the kid with him on his patrols. He'd sit her in his arms or scarf and walk through Snowdin Forest with her. Then, when she was too tired and needed some quiet time, it was Sans who took care of her. He'd read her a story, cradle her or let her play in peace with her cubes and plush toys, watching over her from a short distance. Eventually, when she'd fall asleep, he'd tuck her into bed.

Frisk found herself in the center of a comfortable day-to-day life, punctuated by visits at Undyne's of Alphys's. The fish lady actually had done her report to the king, and had told them he looked very moved, but mostly relieved at the news. He had decided not to take any hasty decisions, not to officially acknowledge the baby's presence, for now. Toriel didn't know what to think of her ex's decisions. She felt vulnerable when she though of him and always chose to change the subject quickly. She didn't want to imagine what that murderer was planning.

One day, at the breakfast table, Papyrus seemed even more excited than usual. He was frenetically scribbling on a paper sheet, and he had already darkened three of them, on both sides. Toriel noticed as she was feeding Frisk and smiled. "Are you preparing a new puzzle, Papyrus?"

"I'm doing something better than a puzzle!" the skeleton exclaimed with a bright smile. "I'm making a surprise for the tiny human, nyehehe!"

"What kind of surprise?"

"Well…" papyrus glanced at Frisk, who seemed more focused on her plastic spoon than on the conversation, and gestured at Toriel to get closer. He showed her his paper which was a list of diverse objects, such as a "sports car", "baby stilts", "a sidekick costume" or "the Fluffy Bunny books collection". "It seems, according to very certain sources, that Santa Claus will be in Snowdin today," he said with a hand over his mouth, like he was trying not to be heard by Frisk. "And since the tiny human hasn't met him yet, it is my duty to take her there. I, the great Papyrus, have prepared a list of toys to ask for her, for she cannot yet speak!"

"How nice of you," Toriel giggled.

"It is nothing! After all, the Great Papyrus should be the best guardian ever!"

Toriel smiled at him, thinking she hadn't seen time flow if Christmas was already growing near. The tradition of making presents that day had come from Chara, and had already spread through the Underground when they died. She didn't know if it had persisted elsewhere in the kingdom, but in Snowdin it had almost become a lifestyle. "Would you like me to come with you?"

Papyrus seemed to shudder, but it might have been her own imagination. "No need, I can take care of her myself!"

"As you wish." He really seemed adamant on bringing Frisk himself. Toriel thought to herself that she'd like to watch the scene anyway. Maybe she'd stay to make some sweets, then join them later. Sans might want to come as well.

He only left his room later, long after Toriel finished cleaning Frisk up, wrapping her in her baby monster costume, completed with gloves and little boots, and entrusting her to the good care of a Papyrus thrilled to spend his morning waiting for Santa Claus on Snowdin Town Central Square.

"Hello Sans! Have you slept well?"

"Uh huh, hi Tori," the skeleton just said, rubbing the corners of his eye sockets. He had only waken up three times that night and had fallen back asleep relatively fast, which meant that night was rather restful. Usually, there was no way he could choose when or how to fall asleep; he could spin around in his bed for hours at night, and then suddenly shut down while he was at work. Not that he did much about it. Taking care of the baby bones almost managed to regulate his internal clock. Who knew miracles could happen? Also, about the baby bones. "Where's the kiddo?" he asked, dropping himself on a chair.

"It seems Papyrus is taking her to see Santa." Toriel was kneading something – probably pie crust. "I thought we could join them later."

"It's Santa Claus day?" Sans wondered out loud. "Paps didn't tell me." It was unusual. Ever since he was little, he had been the one who took Papyrus to Santa, and he never forgot to warn him days prior. Even since he had been training to become a royal guard, Undyne would always give them a day off for the occasion. He never wanted to go alone.

"He certainly forgot. He seemed so excited to bring Frisk there, he even prepared present ideas for her," Toriel added, laughing as she remembered the list of eccentric gifts.

"Huh. Ok." Papyrus really was full of surprised. Maybe he just wanted to take up the torch by becoming the escort rather than the escorted. Sans felt a rush of pride for his little brother, mixed with a hint of nostalgia.

He chatted with Toriel a little more, shared a couple puns as he snacked on leftovers for breakfast, before leaving to slump down on the couch. Frisk would probably love to meet Santa, just like Papyrus did when he was little. He could already picture her sitting on the man's laps… Which belonged to the king in disguise, now that he thought about it.

He couldn't remember who took care of it before, but at this time, it was Asgore who usually disguised himself and came to Snowdin to have his beard pulled and listen to children asking for presents. Papyrus didn't know – he still believed Santa Claus existed. Should he warn Toriel?

After thinking it through, he chose to stay silent. As Alphys had told them, Frisk wasn't in danger for now. Papyrus would take care of her and worrying the former queen, or worse, taking the fun away from the kid, would be unneeded. The king wasn't stupid or cruel enough to hurt a child in front of the entire village.

Not to mention, as lazy as he was, Sans knew he would just sit back and watch if he felt even the slightest hint of a menace towards Frisk.


	14. Chapter 14

I was supposed to post this around christmas. I guess I forgot, oopsie! x) I hope you'll enjoy anyways!

* * *

The news had probably spread like wildfire because Snowdin Town's central square was packed when Papyrus and Frisk arrived, although Santa Claus should only arrive in the late morning. Children were running in the snow, fooling around, screaming, laughing under the gaze of chattering adults in little clusters here and there. Some would go seek comfort in their parents' arms after a rough fall, cheered up by huge amounts of hugs. There was, in the middle of the square, a large Christmas tree under which presents were placed. A polar bear was there, telling stories to the younger ones. A few feet away, a blue bunny was trying to sell nice creams.

Sitting on Papyrus's shoulders, steady at the back of his skull, Frisk was ecstatic about the pretty decorations and the joy in the air, babbling happily. Several monsters who had taken a liking to the little girl and her mother greeted them as they passed. Papyrus was very glad because "IT'S THE FIRST TIME PEOPLE NOTICE ME SO MUCH!" which amused Frisk greatly.

Hoppy and Inny were at the edge of the square, near the trees separating town center from the river, along with their children. They were both in the middle of a discussion with a leafy green scaled wyvern. The wyvern was wearing a large brown poncho protecting the thin skin of their wings at the end of which were their small hands and claws against the cold. When she saw the two sisters' familiar faces, Frisk waved happily at them as Papyrus closed in. They noticed them and their faces lit up with huge smiles. "Hi, Frisk! Hello, Papyrus!" Inny exclaimed

"Tori isn't with you?" Hoppy asked.

"No, I am the one taking care of Frisk, today!"

"Oh, shucks…"

"No offense, Papyrus!" Inny assured. "But we were hoping she could meet Nederic."

The wyvern waved his arms apologetically. "No, no, really it's fine, we'll meet another time!"

"But you're always busy, Ned," Hoppy whined. "Who knows when there'll be another time!"

Nederic looked sheepish, and the green glow of his magic shone through the scales of his cheeks. He looked down and smiled shyly. "I know, I'm sorry, but I'll be able to go out more now that my babies hatched."

"Oh, oh! That's right!" Inny exclaimed, turning to her sister, who then turned to Papyrus.

"Let Frisk down, would you? She has people to meet too!"

"Uh, okay?" Papyrus said, confused. He picked Frisk up from his shoulders and gently sat her down in the snow, between his feet. The little girl immediately used her mittens to try and grab some snow to eat, but she stopped when she noticed two tiny monsters she had not seen before, snuggled between their father's big scaly paws like two baby penguins.

The baby wyverns wore boots and striped ponchos that matched their scales. The smaller one was grey, with very light pupils that didn't look anywhere. The second one was larger and had yellow scales and vivid, curious, nervous eyes. Frisk waved at them. Only the yellow wyvern answered with a small cry, then looked down at the space where their own arms should have been and suddenly looked very upset at this great injustice. The scene made Nederic laugh. "Hello, Frisk," he cooed (and take it from me, hearing a wyvern coo is magical). "These are Child and Kid. Say hello?"

"He'yoooo!" Kid exclaimed.

"Aye," Child pronounced with difficulties.

Frisk had a small cry of joy and started crawling quickly through the snow to go hug her two new friends.

"So cute!" the Keeper sisters said as one.

"Look at how great friends they are already!" Papyrus added.

Hearing her closing in, Child panicked and tried to hide behind their father's leg, but slipped and fell over like a weeble. The grey wyvern ended up literally on their head, stomach naked because their poncho slipped onto their face, their feet wiggling about, unable to stand.

Frisk stopped, uncertain, and hear a familiar fit of laughter. She turned to see, next to her, the ten years old she'd often see around her. She smiled, as she always did when her friend came back. "They don't have arms!" Chara exclaimed, laughing out loud, pointing at the crying baby wyvern's naked sides. "And they're blind on top of that! This is Nature's scapegoat!" Frisk could only understand the two first sentences and looked at her friend inquisitively. Chara calmed down a little and explained: "They can't see. They lucked out."

Frisk felt sorry for Child. Thankfully, Nederic had already noticed the state his child had put themself into and picked them up to comfort them, leaving Frisk alone with Kid who had watched the whole scene with large, perplexed eyes. Frisk, afraid of scaring them too, wasn't sure if she should move so she just stayed put, on all fours in the snow. But Kid was very curious and left their father's leg-shelter to try and take a few steps towards the disguised human.

Emphasis on "try". Kid fell over as well and ended up faceplanting the snow, under Frisk's horrified gaze and Chara's uncontrolled laughter. But unlike their sibling, Kid didn't give up and their legs soon found a grip on the ground. They started pushing, their face still down, and moved this way until they were next to Frisk, digging a deep trench in the snow. Then, they turned around and managed to sit up using their tail. They proudly smiled at Frisk who cheered enthusiastically, impressed.

"Eh, tough one," Chara admitted, all smiles.

Frisk nodded quickly and would have probably tried to hug her new friend if Brook and Zoey, Hoppy's children, hadn't hopped from a close-by bund, chasing each other and screaming like the devil was on their tail. This immediately caught the two infants' attention. Kid and Frisk shared a look and, as if they both agreed, tried to join the kits to play with them as the adults went back to talking.

Although they had hatched a month ago, Kid soon found out how to keep their balance, despite their lack of arms and their huge head that pulled them down. There was a few more trenches in the snow before they were able to stay upright long enough to walk, but once they understood how to rise up quickly, they became a dangerous opponent at tag. Even a kit can't do much when a wyvern battering rams their skull into them with the confidence of someone who's not scared of getting hurt anymore.

Frisk had more trouble following. She was the youngest in the group, except for Kid, which didn't count because wyverns, like other dragons, grow up very fast from birth. Even Light, Inny's youngest, could already jump. Frisk, comparatively, could only run on all fours in the snow like a little mountain goat, which, admittedly, matched her disguise perfectly.

She could stand, sometimes, by holding onto something. So Loky, the oldest kit, thought of pairing her with Kid. The two little ones could hold onto each other to avoid falling, and as they were more steady on their four feet, could almost run fast enough to compete with the other children.

As they played, time went by quickly, to the point where it was a total surprise when the crowd started moving around the human and the baby monster. The kits disappeared among the feet, paws, talons, hooves and other kinds of appendages. Kid panicked and tried to follow them. Frisk wanted to stay put. The children let go of each other and Kid disappeared too, lost in the crowd. Frisk, disoriented, looked for a familiar face, but the monsters were blocking her view. Chara appeared next to her. "Santa Claus is here, that's why everybody's moving. Try not to get stepped on."

But how? Without Kid, she could only walk on all fours, hoping people would notice her. When the crowd slowed down, she decided to stand up to try and see better. Maybe Kid was still there?

Meanwhile, Papyrus was looking for her, along with Inny and Hoppy after they had scolded their children for letting the two youngest alone. Still holding Child, Nederic was also looking for his second kid, slowly making his way through the crowd, scanning the ground as best as he could. Papyrus, right behind him, was calling Frisk, hoping the human would answer, when a strange scene had them both turn around.

* * *

Santa Claus, or rather Asgore, had calmly settled down on a chair by the Christmas tree, his sack full of small toys right by his side, after he had greeted the monsters, big and small, as he did every year. The adults stood at a respectful distance around him, but a flock of fur balls in striped shirts was already surrounding him, trying to climb onto his knees; and like every year, he was trying to calm everyone down, laughing softly.

That's when a child, a tiny yellow wyvern, had jumped out of the crowd and ran on a few feet before falling over and faceplanting the snow. The worried king had immediately stood up to pick up the kid into his arms. "Are you alright, child?"

The baby's only response was a mesh of small cries, incomprehensible but clearly worried, their face turned to the crowd. Then they went silent for a moment and a large smile sprouted on their face. So the king followed their gaze and froze from surprise.

* * *

Frisk, holding onto the monsters legs, had walked to the first clearing she could see. There, a tall monster clad in red and white, with a long blond beard and a friendly face, was holding Kid in comfort. She wanted to join them but there were no more legs to hold onto. The adults were staying back.

The big monster gave her a surprised look. Chara stood next to him, staring with unfathomable eyes.

"That's Santa," they told Frisk. She smiled at them. Scanning the space separating her from Santa, she imagined herself walking up to him, like Kid had, and felt filled with the will to succeed. Chara chuckled at her when she filled her tiny lungs and took a step forward. "You are filled with determination."

Frisk nodded and let go of the leg she was still holding. Her foot sunk into the snow but she managed to keep standing. Her face lit up. She took another step. Then another. She still wasn't falling.

Watching her go, Santa kneeled down and opened his arms. Kid, sitting in the pit of his elbow, beheld with astonishment their friend walking all by herself. Frisk felt proud of that attention and tried her best to put a foot in front of the other, arms opened to steady herself.

Asgore didn't move, waiting for the child to come to him. The tiny human he could recognize despite the costume. The other monsters watched the scene with fond smiles, oblivious to the real stakes of that moment. Asgore waited, and when the child fell into his arm, proud they could walk up to him, he stood, holding the human and wyvern effortlessly. A pained smile stretched his lips. "Are you lost, children?"

Frisk shook her head. Chara laughed, right by her side, and advised that she pulled on his beard. Frisk thought that was a weird way of saying hi, but still grabbed a small handful of hair and pulled. Asgore started laughing and gently pried her little hand open. "Now, now…" he said with a shaky voice despite his smile. "How about we found your parents…?" He looked up and his smile turned into a wince for a moment.

Standing in the crowd, not far from him, Toriel's face was staring at him, filled with disdain, watching for the slightest gesture out of place. Asgore wondered why she hadn't stepped in yet, then noticed the short skeleton holding her arm, holding her back.

The two boss-monsters stared at each other, still, silent, unable to fill the few feet separating them. One look, one moment in her presence, and Asgore wanted to kneel in front of her, to beg for her forgiveness. To do what he should have done decades ago. But this was here, and this was now, and it was neither the right place nor the right time. Instead, all he could do was whisper, so quiet only Kid and Frisk could hear: "Tori…"

The kids started to grow impatient, and Asgore remembered his part. He forced a smile, and stepped towards the crowd. "Pardon me, friends, has someone lost two small children around here?"

"Ah, Santa! Santa!" Papyrus waved from the crowd as Nederic walked up to him calmly to take his offspring back. Asgore handed him Kid who whined loudly when they were separated from Frisk. She waved him goodbye. Papyrus ended up there eventually too. "Ah, you found her, thank you Santa!" he exclaimed as he took the child back. Frisk let out a cry of joy as she was reunited with the skeleton and immediately tried to hug him. "I was very worried, Frisk! Why would you leave like that, it was very irresponsible of you! Good thing Santa was here!"

"I think she managed very well," Asgore chuckled. "You have a very resourceful child."

Papyrus gasped. "Frisk did you hear that?! Santa complimented you! What do you say?"

Frisk let out a small cry that sounded like laughter and clapped her hands.

"She'll know how to say thanks by next year," Papyrus assured, and Asgore laughed again.

"I'm sure of it."

After this, the children who still hadn't gotten their turn brought him back to his duties, and Papyrus noticed Toriel and Sans in the crowd. They all went home as he told them how Frisk had made their first proud steps into adversity and was definitely worthy of being the next best royal guard ever's niece.

Toriel had smiled, a little disappointed that she hadn't been the best placed to see Frisk's first steps, and very disappointed that Asgore had been. Sans told her jokes to make her feel better, but she couldn't forget the mix of fear and hope that had assaulted her when she had seen her precious Frisk walking in all innocence towards the monster who had the blood of six children on his hands. Strangely enough, hope was what hurt her the most; hope she didn't want, born when she had met the depressed gaze of that man she had loved. Hope she refused to admit.

Once they were home, Papyrus realized something horrible. "WE FORGOT TO GIVE HIM THE PRESENT LIST! NYOHOHOHOOOOO!"

Sans took a moment to comfort him and tell him that no, Santa was not going to forget him just because he hadn't told him what he wanted.

And indeed, on Christmas night, there were presents under the tree. There was even a small package, left in front of the door, from " _Santa_ ". Toriel, founding the box full of toys, of baby treats and, along with the rest, a small golden flower bouquet, thought of throwing it all away.

Thought.

Then she wrapped up what wasn't and put the presents under the tree with the rest. She hung the flowers by the window to let them dry.

No, she refused to hold onto her hope.

But it was Christmas after all.

* * *

A big thanks to Dragonna for her suggestions, a great source of inspiration for this fanfiction! I'm borrowing part of her headcanon stating that dragons (and consequently wyverns, drakes and other flying snakes) get a totally random name at birth, and choose a new name and gender once they've come of age.

Bonus info: Rabbit monsters are culturally libertines. Hoppy isn't married but has two kids: Zoey, 3 years old; and Brook, 5. Inny is married and has three kids : Light, 2; Parky, 4; and Loky, 6. Each name in that family is a word play on "keeper".


End file.
